Improvement in repeating ordnance



J. A. MATTHEWS.'

MACHINE GUN.

No. 29,437. Patented July 31', 1860.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE/A7 J. A. MATTHEWS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR. TO HIMSELF AND S. H. HERAPH.

IMPROVEMENT IN REPEATING ORDNANCE.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 29,1137, dated July 31', 1860 To all whom fit may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMESA. MATTHEWS, of the city and county of St. Louis, and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful' Improvement in Cannon; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a top view; Fig. 2, a side elevation; and Fig. 3, a section through the line B B of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a part of the said invention, to be hereinafter explained.

The following description of my said invention will enable any one skilled in the arts to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Similar letters of reference represent corresponding parts of the different figures of the drawings annexed.

Upon the drawings, G and C represent the carriagewheels, m the frame, and n the axle, upon which my improved cannon is mounted. The center-piece X,- upon which the gun sits, is fixed upon pivots in the frame, as shown at t, and upon one end of the said center-piece a segment of a circle, g, is fixed, into the periphery of which a screw-cog is cut, into which the tangent-screw Z works, whereby the mouth of the cannon may be set at any angle with the horizon. About in the center of the centerpiece X a pivot, T, is fixed, around the base of which a circular plate, O, is fixed, and about the center pivot, T, and upon the plate O, a second plate, O', is made to work. These two plates O O', together with the pivot T, form a kind of turn-table, whereby the gun may be made to shoot at any an gie, with a vertical plane drawn through the frame. The plate O is xed to the gun-stock P by means of braces, one of which is shown at q. There are three of these braces which support the stock, one in front and two in the rear, which do not show, as they fall behind other parts of the machine.

The center of the gun-stock is in the nature of a iiat circular plate, in the center of which a trnnnion, P' P', is made, about which the breech B of the gun revolves upon a horizontal plane, and to secure the said breech rmly in its place a hole is made through its center,

ished, as experience may dictate. The breech must be made to t with accuracy over the flat place in the gun-stock and behind the barrel E, so as to bring the chambers in the breech directly opposite the bore of the barrel as they are brought successively in line to discharge.

The breech is made to revolve by means of a circular cog-rack, Q, which is lixed to the under side thereof, and which is operated npon by a pinion, Y, fixed upon the shaft r, Eig. y

4, which reaches from the center of the said cog-rack to the periphery thereof, and which is actuated by means ofthe reciprocating cograck i i, which is connected tothe crank Z by means of the connecting-rod h. The cog-rack i acts upon a loose pinion, c, on the opposite end of the shaft r, Fig. 4. This pinion 2': is made to govern the motion of the shaft r, and consequently the breechv B, by means of a' clutch made in its outside face, so as to match in the clutch of the cam c', fixed on the end of the shaft 1', so that when the rack i moves forward the shaft stands `lstill, as the clutches then slip past each other; but when the said rack t' moves back the clutches gripe, and the shaft r and breech B are made to revolve far enough to bring a succeeding chamber in the breech opposite the bore in the barrel. The cam 'v' on the end of the shaft r is put there for the purpose of raising the hammer d, which it does through the agency of the lifting-rod b, which has a recess cut in the side of the lower end, as shown at J, Fig. 4. The said cam is so constructed and arranged on the shaft as to raise the hammer every time the breech turns, and so as to let it fall as soon as it ceases to move and the chamber is brought opposite the barrel. The said 'hammer is brought down by means "of a spring, j, whichv bears upon -the hook u, made on the lower` end of the rod b, as

shown at H, Fig. 4, and which'is secured t0 the gun-stock at. K, and which must be made stii enough to explode the cap placed upon the nipple c.

On` the back end of the gun-stock there is a receiver, e, made to receive the cartridge which is rammed home in the chamber of the breech by the rammerj, which is attached to the rack a', and which is operated by means of the crank z on the shaft Z, through the agency of the connecting-rod h.

Having thus described the construction and operation of' my invention, what [claim as my invt'ention, and desire to secure byLetters Pat- `en 1s l. The use of the revolving breech B, when it is arranged horizontally and operated by means of the circular rack Q. pinion Y, and shaft r, arranged as shownaud described.

2. The use of the cartridge-receiver e, when it is arranged with reference to the revolving breech'B in the manner described.v '3. Theuse of the ramrner f, when itis arranged and operated withreference to the receiver e andbreech B in the Vmanner described.

l J'. A. MATTHEWS.V

Witnesses:

Amos BROADN'AX, M. E. GRAY. 

